As I mentioned (and promised) in my last email yesterday, I want to share a few stories of students who actually had to use their training outside of the dojo, and in actual situations. But first, don't forget to read until the end as I have a special training gift for you.
(You weren't one of those who just scrolled down to see what it was before coming back up here to continue, were you?
LOL
Anyway, today's "lessons" will come from a few of my students who were forced to put their training to the test... not for a belt, but for the prize of going home in one piece.
The first is Sharon. A middle-age mom and housewife who had just started her training in what we call the "fire realm of committed intent," where the fight is taken to the attacker in a very focused and targeted way... one that completely overwhelms and
dominates him.
Two days after this first class, Sharon was walking along a quiet country/rural road where she lives. She was returning home after a visit with a friend who lives a "nice walk" from her house, when she was passed by a man on a bike. Suddenly she heard what sounded like the man crashing on his bike and was just turning to see if he was okay, when he attacked her from behind and tried dragging her off the road and behind a row of bushes that lined the
roadway.
Sharon said she immediately went into action and began directing elbows, forearms, kicks... anything she could at any target that lined up with one of her weapons. She also added blinding disorientation by grabbing her assailant by the head and screaming directly into his ear and, while she didn't knock him out or restrain him... she said she was proud of herself when she saw the terror is HIS eyes, before he pried himself away from her...and left her there as
he ran to get his bike and escape from his intended victim!
Next, we have Nathan. Nathan was a high school student hanging out at the local mall with two of his friends when the three were jumped in the parking lot near his older friend's car.
When asked to get off the friend's car on which the two soon-to-be attackers were sitting, they jumped off of the vehicle and moved in making threats and talking tough. While the two
friends were returning "verbal fire" and arguing with the loud-mouthed attackers, Nathan immediately focused in to how they were moving and what they were doing as they approached.
Suddenly one of the assailant's pulled a knife and Nathan's two friend's froze having been surprised that, what they thought was a "touch-guy" argument, suddenly turned into something different. Nate though, didn't freeze.
Instead, he immediately yelled at the knife-wielder
and got him to move away from the friends so Nate could deal with the worst of the threats and try to deescalate the worst of the problem. He firgured that his two friends together could handle the other attacker's punches that he began throwing.
Nate's attempts to get the knife-wielder to "make better life-choice" didn't work and he found himself dealing with an incoming knife. But just for a second, because that's all it took.
Nate said he
almost laughed at one point because it wasn't the techniques that he used that allowed him to end things as quickly as they did. While they were easily executed, the thing that made him laugh was that the attacker did everything I said he would, and in the order that the framework we give teaches... that Nate was able to know exactly when to move, and what technique to do to disarm the attacker and have him running away across the parking lot.
What Nate told me about
what he discovered after the attack, when he had time to think about it and work out more of the details was that...
...at no point in this foray... between parked cars in a parking lot...based on the way his attacker was moving and coming at him...
...was he ever able to use any of the EIGHT YEARS of another sport martial art that he had studied before coming to Ninjutsu. And, again, the other thing that surprised him was that it wasn't superior technique
as much as superior UNDERSTANDING and strategic maneuvering that won the day for him and his friends.
And finally, let's look at just one of Pete's stories. I say "one of," because Pete is a corrections officer at a detention facility (that's nice speak for "prison.")
This is one of the first incidents which led Pete to tell his fellow officers that, "if I don't call for back up, DON'T HELP... because you just get in the way and make a
bad problem worse.
You see, Pete found out quickly that his mental and assessment skills, coupled with tactical positioning and strategic use of surroundings, allowed him to gain control of a violent inmate very quickly as in an incident where, returning an inmate to his cell, the inmate first started to resist and then tried to attack Pete as a "statement" of sorts.
Pete immediately used the doorway as a bottleneck for his assailant's attacking moves and,
when he knew it was coming, caught the inmates incoming attempted punch in a muso-dori arm-bar and levered him directly, face-first, to the floor. But...
...while secure the prisoner and getting the zip cuffs on, his co-workers (including the lieutenant in charge) came to the "rescue" to assist which, unintentionally, created an opening for the prisoner to escape the hold and get back to fighting.
Pete found himself being threatened with an
insubordination charge after telling everyone, including the officer in charge to get the hell out and stop making matters worse!
But, what he also learned through this and other incidents like was that regardless of size, years on the job, or good intentions, his fellow officers were just not trained beyond the few techniques taught during certification classes for the job.
This lead to no tactical or strategic understanding for not only controlling an
attackers movements and thinking/decision-making... but also on "when" to move in to gain physical control and which technique would be the quickest to apply.
As a result, there attempts to help often undid the control Pete had from the start and created a situation where the situation lasted longer than it should have, caused injuries to officers and inmate(s) alike, and even turned into incident reports for undo force.
Pete often says that he started the
training to learn to protect himself with "moves," but ended up learning the things that make the techniques come "alive" in a bad situation, and allow you to stop things long before they get out of hand!
As you can see, for these three students... the lessons that won the day weren't the techniques themselves, although they used techniques. What won the day and, at least for Pete still does so... was the understand about what to look forward, how to see beyond the
physical and into the tactical and strategic realms... but also to be able to act quickly, decisively and at their attacker's weakest point(s) so they could end things as rapidly and easily as possible... with the LEAST amount of wear-and-tear on themselves in the process.
And THAT'S the idea.
And that's where YOUR GIFT comes in!
Because I want to gift you with today's Master Class at
the dojo (via Zoom) so you can see and try out some of the lessons included in this so-called, "Fire-Realm" - the focus of the training in the program I'll be releasing tomorrow afternoon.
During today's class we're going to be taking a look at our "Fire Realm" of operation from a multidimensional level where movement is not always straight forward. The point is to understand the "direct-committed action" part of this element's contribution to your overall defensive
action and response... allowing you to end an attack situation quickly and more easily than the "slugfest" fight contest method.
But, only you know if you want to at least take a look at this approach to the training, which is NOT FOR:
Those who only want to do the "classical/traditional" approach
Those who don't believe in that "5 Element" crap!
Masters who already know everything
Tough guys who think this "Ninja shit" is just that... shit,
or...
Those who can't bring themselves to train with a 61 year old bald guy with a gut... regardless of how much he might know!
And I would say... fantastic! That creates less distractions so those who DO want to learn something... CAN!
Anyway, if you want to take me up on this complimentary training class (Reg. $35/class), just click on the Zoom link below a few minutes before class start time, and I'll see you there. (NOTE: You'll need to download and install the Zoom app if you don't already have it before you can login)
Topic: Tuesday - Shinobi Kai - Ninpo Masterclass Time: May 14, 2024 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
PS - If you're interested in taking your training closer to street-ready, without changing anything about this powerful art, and without trying to figure it out or make it up... stay tuned for the
"Doors-Open" notification for the new course! In the meantime, why not jump on today's complimentary class for some great lessons!
2346 N. Susquehanna Trail
Selinsgrove Pa. 17870
USA
